Have Some Coke and a Smile, and Shut the F*** Up

While in Stockton, Clay brokered a deal with the Mexicans: the club is now muling pure, uncut cocaine for Danny Trejo. Remember that SAMCRO historically shuns the drug trade -- and indeed, one of the tenets of their pact with Unser was that they'd keep drugs out of Charming. Now, however, Clay's getting very nervous about the inevitable day when he has to step down, and he sees this deal as his nest egg. Although Jax initially protests, he soon makes his own bargain with Clay, promising he'll maneuver the club into approving the new line of work so long as Clay lets him walk away from SAMCRO without repercussions.

The SAMCRO boys are bitterly divided on the issue: Piney and Bobby Elvis are adamantly opposed; Juice and Opie are opposed only because they don't care for the risk; Tig wants what Clay wants. Their division closes over temporarily when the contretemps of the week break out. This time, it's Opie and Jax in peril after the Russians ambush them at the Wahewa's bullet shop. Danny Trejo's cartel shows up to kill everyone. As any cartel headed by Danny Trejo would. The club still has to vote, but I'm guessing Opie is now pro-cartel.

The local law enforcement is none too happy about all those dead Russians, but their displeasure with the man Potter has dubbed "Mayor McCheese" runs a pretty close second. Although many of the suits have cleared out, Potter and Roosevelt quickly figure out that SAMCRO didn't kill the Russians merely for revenge, and begin speculating on what "bigger play" the club's about to make. Roosevelt decides to rattle the SAMCRO cage, which he does by finding a boatload of fire code violations and taking an ax to their wall of mugshots. He also buries the hatchet in the table at church. "You pushed me to this," Roosevelt tells Clay. "I strongly suggest you don't do it again."

On the domestic front: Gemma is panicking about the contents of the letters between Maureen and John, and spends the entire episode trying ransack Jax and Tara's house for those letters. On the plus side: the house also contains a toddler and an infant, so nobody's going to notice if it's been tossed. Gemma eventually realizes Tara keeps the papers on her, heads to Tara's office and finds that not only does Tara have the letters, she's also got a copy of John Teller's accident report. Unser tells Gemma not to freak too hard about this, but you can tell Gemma's not going to rest until she's certain JT hasn't influenced Jax or Tara.

Morning comes to Charming. Clay lumbers into his living room and Gemma gives him a kiss, a cup of coffee and a moment to let down his guard before she nails him with a Gorgon-like glare of inquisition. Clay instantly guesses, "The papers?" "Yeah," Gemma replies. "The latest Mary Worth plotline is really chapping my ass." I kid! Gemma hasn't gotten past the big story on the front page about the four bodies found in Charming Heights. I can't get past the premise that the morning papers would have a story on the bodies already. Given the timetable these guys were operating on (shooting up the Russians in the middle of the night), the earliest the bodies would have been discovered is what, 6AM when the first construction crews began arriving for work? So what I'm saying is, it's a hell of lot more plausible that Charming.patch.com would have led with the story in the morning, while the local dailies -- which were probably to the presses around 2AM -- would not have. What is highly implausible is that either Gemma or Clay opens up their morning by sitting down at the computer and firing up a local news website.

Anyway. Clay's all, "Eh, it's all in a night's work," so Gemma plows on to what's really chapping her ass: the letters Maureen Ashby gave to Jax. Gemma's worried that whatever's in the letters is so mind-bending, it will permanently ruin Jax and Tara for SAMCRO. Clay dismisses that as unlikely: "It's probably a bunch of love letters and half-gay poems." Gemma hisses, "Or a stack of hate." How about none of the above? Based on what we've heard so far, ol' JT pretty much pioneered the LiveJournal format 25 years ahead of time. Nobody gets me! It's hard to be an idealist! I took a quiz and the character I'd be from The Lord of the Rings is Boromir, which totally sucks! Clay attempts to talk Gemma down, but she won't rest until she's sure that she's successfully reversed whatever brainwashing-from-beyond-the-grave John Teller's effected on Jax and his old lady. After Gemma leaves, Clay broods a little.

We zip to morning at the Knowles-Teller house, where Tara's running around getting ready for work, while also prepping the boys for the day and holding Thomas. Jax is sitting there cuddling Abel. Tara offers to scotch the usual childcare rota since Jax is home, but he demurs with, "I don't want to mess with their routines." Tara slides into a seat at the table -- Thomas, as per time-honored TV convention, is passed out -- and comments with a grin that it sure will be nice having the father of her two children around to actually help rear them. Before Jax can tell her, "Yeah, don't get any ideas ..." he notices the morning news, which is leading with the bodies found on the construction site. Tara, who is feeding Thomas now, asks if Jax was involved. He replies, "How much do you want to know?" Tara switches off the TV and says, "All of it." Jax tells her it was retaliation for his shivving. It's great that they're having such clear and honest communication, but maybe this is the kind of conversation that can wait until the kids are in bed? Or perhaps it's always been a parenting goal of Jax or Tara's to have their son go to preschool and proudly announce how their daddy likes to retaliate against the Russians? Whatever. The conversation's cut short by Gemma coming in and dryly saying, "We-ell, look at this perfect family." (And here is where I wonder if she's seeing herself and JT at that table before it all went so wrong.)

And in the third household -- Chez Winston -- Opie's putting the moves on his bride. The kids are at school, so why not have a little honeymoon in the morning? Lyla regretfully demurs; she has to work. Opie says, "The sooner we get you knocked up, the sooner you get to stop working," which just ... what now? In what universe does that make sense? If they can afford to lose an income as they're adding a child to the household, then they can afford to have Lyla stop working now and Opie can stop being aggrieved about her particular vocation. Anyway, the whole point to this scene is to establish two things: Opie's got the baby fever, and Opie has no plans to tell his old lady AN-Y-THING, as he lies expertly about how SAMCRO had nothing to do with killing any Russians.

Back at Knowles-Teller manor, Tara hustles out the door. Jax shrugs on his outerwear, ready to launch into whatever overstuffed day Clay has planned for them, and Gemma straightens out his black hoodie with, "Everything okay? With us?" Jax gives Gemma a "What the hell, Mom?" look and asks what she's talking about. Gemma says with a wobble in her voice, "I just missed you so much." Jax rolls his eyes and assures her they're fine. Gemma bravely lifts her chin and lays it on: "I love you more than anything in this world, Jax. You know that, right?" Jax is all, "Whatever," and hugs his mom, totally ignoring the silent ending of Gemma's last question, which is, "So you know I wouldn't murder you and make it look like an accident, right? Not that I've ever done that." Jax tells his mother he loves her, then rolls out the door.

Charming Heights. Both Potter and Roosevelt are watching the CSI team do their work. Potter says in his usual diffident tone, "I'm guessing there are three or four dead Russians somewhere else in Charming this morning." Roosevelt says, "Not all Russians. [I'm] sorry about Worsky." "Yes, I know. He was a good agent," Potter says. Then he finally betrays some surprise: "Wow. I did not see this coming. 'It is through being wounded, power grows and can, in the end, become tremendous.'"

Roosevelt visibly swallows whatever he was going to say -- "Yes, Nietzsche often comes to mind when I'm looking at a crime scene," perhaps -- and displays a flair for investigation by asking, "Am I missing an upside to this?" Potter turns to him and burbles, "Bold! Bold! They are becoming bold! Why? How? The Sons are a mid-sized club, barely in the top ten. What empowers them to go head-to-head with the ROC, wipe out a whole damn gulag?" Roosevelt's first thought is revenge; Potter points out that vengeance-minded clubs are often killed through their own stupidity.

A mobile phone rings and Potter says, "Ah! Mayor McCheese approaches. Does it bother anyone in this town that their mayor is also their biggest developer? No one smells that stench?" Roosevelt dryly comments that this scene may make Hale the Lesser's head explode. Then we get some exposition: A pile of Russian corpses may well bring down property values, and if that happens, Hale could have trouble financing. If that happens, the eminent domain on the land expires and the Charming city council would have to vote to renew it. As the mayor comes over, Potter dryly comments, "There goes the neighborhood." Hale says, "Good morning," and Potter tosses off, "Not if you're Russian" as he turns and walks away. (Ha! Potter is growing on me. We're going to discover he's got a raging ether habit soon, because there's no way this show is going to tolerate someone being that organically odd. They've already got Tig for that.) Anyway: Hale does his best imitation of a big-boy politician throwing his weight around so as to make Roosevelt hop to, and Roosevelt does his best to maintain a poker face while he pokes at Hale's hissyfit, first by pointing out that the Russians' enemies list is a long one, and then by asking Hale if his interest in getting this crime solved is a civic one or a financial one. Hale stomps off, totally irritated that no matter how he schemes, he'll never have Charming's law enforcement under his heel.

Jax and Clay have taken a tow truck to a scrapyard, where they're meeting with Alvarez and two of his most muscle-y companions. The purpose of the meeting is for Alvarez to broker an introduction with Romeo Parada (as played by Danny Trejo). Parada introduces his little friends Santos y Luis, then says happily, "I hear Victor Puta-lova never made it home from SAMCRO's wedding." Ha! I admire someone who can make a filthy pun in two languages. Clay says, "Yeah, ah, we had to put him down. Whole North Cali crew." "Must have been a wild party," Parada says. Jax admits he's nervous about a reciprocal soiree. Parada assures him, "The word has been put out: no one is to interfere with our new friendship." That friendship, however, is contingent on SAMCRO impressing Parada with their many big and shiny kill sticks: AR-15s, Sig 551s, AKs, KG-9s, Glocks, etc. All told, they're about to sell Parada over 150 firearms, for 80% of their street value. The Parada folks want a shipment every three weeks, with three dozen of each model save for the Glocks, which are a bit gift basket-y for this crowd. Parada says, "There's more. I need bigger: RPGs, 50 caliber machine guns, long-range sniper rifles." Clay says cautiously that he'll have to make a call. Since Parada's about to hand over more than half a million dollars in cash for Clay's current stock, plus ammo, plus a delivery fee, Clay is all about letting his fingers do the walking. He says he's got a run scheduled for the weekend. "I'll have the coke ready for the run back," says Parada, and the camera shifts to Jax cutting his eyes sideways at Clay. Clay has other places to look at the moment. The business concluded, Jax and Clay get back in the tow truck.

As Clay packs a paper grocery stack with his big bundles of cash, Jax asks irritably, "We're trafficking blow?" Clay clarifies, "We're just muling it back. Mayans are chopping and distributing ... it's part of the deal. I had no choice." Jax asks who else knows. So far, nobody. Clay puts the big bag of cash at his feet and says, "I need you to understand this." Jax gets pissy: "Understand what? That you also forgot to mention that we'd be running coke for the Galindo cartel? We voted in selling them guns --" "We'll have another vote," Clay says. Jax realizes that Clay misled the club on the terms of the deal, and he's been sitting on the real terms of the deal since their stay in Stockton. Clay protests, "The Russians needed to die for what they did to you inside. The Galindo cartel is the only player deep enough to keep the Russians off our back." Jax snaps, "Don't give me the 'I did this for you, son,' bullshit! This ain't about me, Clay. And this ain't about the club. This is about you cashing out."

Clay sighs and admits, "These last two years have been brutal for your mom and me. No savings, no medical, no retirement cushion. I got, what, a year? Maybe two. I gave my whole life to this club, I don't want to walk away with nothing." Jax reminds Clay that his approach to McGee's retirement concerns was to eliminate his prospect of retiring at all. Then Jax brokers a deal with Clay: He'll back Clay on the new vote and help make sure it passes, and in return, Clay has to let Jax leave without repercussions. Clay is having a hard time wrapping his brain around this -- "You're going to -- you're going to leave SAMCRO? What else are you gonna do?" "It doesn't matter. I need your word you'll let me walk away [with] no recourse ... I'm going to need you to keep [Gemma] on track," Jax replies. Clay tries to weasel out of the deal, but Jax is firm: He'll back Clay's retirement-fueled push for coke muling in exchange for the ability to leave the club and Opie's ascension to the presidency. Who knows? It could work. Sure, the clubhouse culture would undergo the sociological equivalent to whiplash once the lead old lady shifts from Gemma to Lyla, but that's assuming that Gemma is either mortal or planning on leaving the clubhouse before she draws her last breath. Anyway, Clay agrees to the deal.

Cut to church. Bobby Elvis and Piney are taking this new proposal about as well as can be expected, which is to say one or both of them is courting a major, rage-induced cardiac event. Opie is not a fan, but his concerns are more practical than ideological: "The last thing we want to do is give Alvarez more leverage over our business." Ah, but two of the guys who just finished a stretch in Stockton -- Tig and Jax -- disagree. Clay says the cartel's already assumed a commitment and put the word out that the Russians aren't going to touch anyone. Juice points out that they're trading the Russians' radar for the DEA's. Also, he's shaved his head again. I have to go mourn now. Bobby Elvis and Opie figure that SAMCRO can still move guns without the cartel; Chibs is not sure that the club can do the volume that their Irish pals expect. Clay tries to make the whole arrangement sound like a too-good-to-be-true deal -- "We do this short term, we cash out" -- and Piney shouts, "It's a goddamn cartel! There is no short term!" The meeting gets quiet and awkward from there. Jax makes his pro-cartel argument by slapping down block after block of cash on the table, and that sort of shuts everyone up. For now. The meeting ends on Clay's orders to Jax and Opie to check on the Wahewa's ammo production. As everyone troops out, Clay grabs Tig by the arm and says urgently, "I want this." Tig looks like a cat that's just been caught shredding the living room sofa. The entire exchange is not lost on Bobby Elvis.

By Sobell

Clay sighs and admits, "These last two years have been brutal for your mom and me. No savings, no medical, no retirement cushion. I got, what, a year? Maybe two. I gave my whole life to this club, I don't want to walk away with nothing." Jax reminds Clay that his approach to McGee's retirement concerns was to eliminate his prospect of retiring at all. Then Jax brokers a deal with Clay: He'll back Clay on the new vote and help make sure it passes, and in return, Clay has to let Jax leave without repercussions. Clay is having a hard time wrapping his brain around this -- "You're going to -- you're going to leave SAMCRO? What else are you gonna do?" "It doesn't matter. I need your word you'll let me walk away [with] no recourse ... I'm going to need you to keep [Gemma] on track," Jax replies. Clay tries to weasel out of the deal, but Jax is firm: He'll back Clay's retirement-fueled push for coke muling in exchange for the ability to leave the club and Opie's ascension to the presidency. Who knows? It could work. Sure, the clubhouse culture would undergo the sociological equivalent to whiplash once the lead old lady shifts from Gemma to Lyla, but that's assuming that Gemma is either mortal or planning on leaving the clubhouse before she draws her last breath. Anyway, Clay agrees to the deal.

Cut to church. Bobby Elvis and Piney are taking this new proposal about as well as can be expected, which is to say one or both of them is courting a major, rage-induced cardiac event. Opie is not a fan, but his concerns are more practical than ideological: "The last thing we want to do is give Alvarez more leverage over our business." Ah, but two of the guys who just finished a stretch in Stockton -- Tig and Jax -- disagree. Clay says the cartel's already assumed a commitment and put the word out that the Russians aren't going to touch anyone. Juice points out that they're trading the Russians' radar for the DEA's. Also, he's shaved his head again. I have to go mourn now. Bobby Elvis and Opie figure that SAMCRO can still move guns without the cartel; Chibs is not sure that the club can do the volume that their Irish pals expect. Clay tries to make the whole arrangement sound like a too-good-to-be-true deal -- "We do this short term, we cash out" -- and Piney shouts, "It's a goddamn cartel! There is no short term!" The meeting gets quiet and awkward from there. Jax makes his pro-cartel argument by slapping down block after block of cash on the table, and that sort of shuts everyone up. For now. The meeting ends on Clay's orders to Jax and Opie to check on the Wahewa's ammo production. As everyone troops out, Clay grabs Tig by the arm and says urgently, "I want this." Tig looks like a cat that's just been caught shredding the living room sofa. The entire exchange is not lost on Bobby Elvis.

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ANYWAY. Jax says he's backing the cartel deal because it helps set up his family. Opie gives him a long look and says, "I watched Tara take care of your kids. She's a strong chick, man. She really stepped up. But Lyla ... man. I love her, but she's not Donna. I go away, she'd never be able to take care of three kids by herself. I can't do that to her. I can't do that to them." Aw, now I'm sad -- for Lyla, who has to live with the ghost of Sainted Dead Donna every day, for the kids, for Opie. Jax is all, "The cartel's got law enforcement on its payroll all over the West Coast. How could that possibly ever work to our disadvantage?" Opie is still not buying it.

On the other side of the law, Roosevelt lets himself into the war room and finds it nearly empty; apparently all but the ATF agent and Potter have fled for locales with lower odds for lead poisoning. The plan? Tread water and see what happens . After all, the ATF agent reasons, SAMCRO would not have taken out the Russians if they didn't feel safe doing so; it's too ambitious for them, so they're clearly working for or with someone else. Potter is fine waiting to see who the big baddie is, but Roosevelt is slightly more impatient: "These guys shit on my front lawn. I gotta protect my town. I just came in to give you a heads-up." Potter says vaguely, "Do your job, my good sheriff. It should be business as usual. Be the badge." He toasts Roosevelt with his carton of chocolate milk, and Roosevelt sails out on a gale of irritation.

Clay is making plans for the future. Specifically, he is planning to expand his gun-running facilities, and he'll start by making a deal with Oswald: No more resistance to Charming Heights, and, in exchange, the club gets to use Oswald's old lumber-storage facility. The site is especially attractive, located as it is on the edge of the Wahewa reservation and possessing a gated road into a remote area. Oswald takes the big wad of cash Clay proffers, but never has a man looked so regretful about letting a biker gang hunt down and kill his daughter's rapist.

Speaking of Wahewa land, Jax and Opie are on it. However, so are a bunch of Russians, who have killed one Wahewa lookout. Jax and Opie make it back to their truck and do some truly impressive stunt-style driving, but they are soon waylaid by an SUV doing even more impressive driving. Opie is thrown clear of the truck, and he runs back in time to pull Jax out of the upended truck cab. Then both SAMCRO boys are bound up and taken back to the Wahewa bullet-making HQ. Two Wahewa women are being held hostage there. One Russian goon heads over to the hostages and shoves his pistol in the first lady's mouth as a second Russian goon tells Jax, "You tell me where the guns are, or I blow her head off." Jax pleads, "Okay, okay, okay" -- but it's only a ruse for him to headbutt a goon and attempt to fight. Notice how I said "Attempt." He and Opie are soon overpowered again, and a Russian aims at the Wahewa woman so Jax screams that he'll tell them where the guns are. All he needs to do is make a call.

Meanwhile, in Capers Ahoy! subplots, Gemma's taken Thomas on a field trip to snoop in Mommy's office. Because she is sneaky -- and it is narratively convenient to do so -- Gemma soon figures out how to unlock Tara's desk drawer and finds the accordion file Tara's been keeping on Maureen's correspondence and its aftermath. Among the items Tara's collected: a copy of John Teller's accident report (date: 11/11/93), as signed off on by one Wayne Unser. Gemma is rattled.

Speaking of Unser, he's watching Juice work on his bike. Juice is about as effective a mechanic as he is a hacker, and we quickly move over to Tig, who is making sweet love to a sandwich. (Only metaphorically, praise the lord.) Bobby comes over and asks, "That Gemma's meatloaf?" Tig comes down off his mouthgasm to exclaim, "I missed this almost as much as I missed pussy." Then he senses that Bobby Elvis didn't come by to see if Tig wanted to swap lunch items. Tig urges him, "Get behind Clay on this cartel, man. He wants you there." "No, he doesn't. He's locked me out. He's locked all of us out, except for Jax. He's the only one on the inside and that's dangerous," Bobby Elvis broods. The thought of not being Clay's right-hand man totally alarms Tig, so he's all, "Clarification, please?" Bobby Elvis explains, "He had you and me. He trusted us. We gave him balance, protected the club in the process. That's gone." Tig could not give two shits about balance. He's in a panic over Daddy Clay sending him to his room: "So you think I'm on the outside too?" Before Bobby Elvis can try again using smaller words, Filthy Phil comes running in bringing word of colliding plotlines, i.e. Jax calling in to try and reach Clay. Bobby Elvis and Tig head out to find Clay, but the man (fresh from his errand at Oswald's), blows them off all, "Not now." Bobby and Tig look at each other, and Bobby's all, "SEE?"

Capers Ahoy! Gemma's sitting and reading her estranged husband's whinging to his impressionable teenaged mistress: "Gemma's always been stronger than me. I loved her for that, but as I lost my way, she found hers. She's moved closer to Clay, become more deeply committed to the club. She's become more the woman I married, and I've become less the man. The death of our love is my failing, not hers." Before we can find out more, Tara's voice comes wafting along and Gemma scrambles not to look busted. She does this by running and hiding in Tara's office bathroom, which would be a stealthy move were it not for the BABY she leaves in the middle of the office floor. (On a completely different note: How cute is it that she's got a whole bulletin board devoted to pictures of children. I can't tell if they're all supposed to be her kids or if some are pictures of kids she's done surgery on, but it's cute.) So Gemma plays it off by flushing the toilet and being all, "Oh, hey ..." She has ostensibly brought Thomas in to be nursed. Then, Gemma breaks out a classic move: She's feeling put on the defensive, so she goes on the offensive, asking Tara why she's not flashing her betrothal bling. Instead of saying, "I'm a doctor and my hands are all up in baby guts all day, so it's not exactly sanitary," Tara dithers about how she and Jax are not sure how they'll announce it. Yeah, because you know those two are waiting to see if The New York Times' Sunday Styles section is going to feature them in their "Vows" column.

By Sobell

Clay is making plans for the future. Specifically, he is planning to expand his gun-running facilities, and he'll start by making a deal with Oswald: No more resistance to Charming Heights, and, in exchange, the club gets to use Oswald's old lumber-storage facility. The site is especially attractive, located as it is on the edge of the Wahewa reservation and possessing a gated road into a remote area. Oswald takes the big wad of cash Clay proffers, but never has a man looked so regretful about letting a biker gang hunt down and kill his daughter's rapist.

Speaking of Wahewa land, Jax and Opie are on it. However, so are a bunch of Russians, who have killed one Wahewa lookout. Jax and Opie make it back to their truck and do some truly impressive stunt-style driving, but they are soon waylaid by an SUV doing even more impressive driving. Opie is thrown clear of the truck, and he runs back in time to pull Jax out of the upended truck cab. Then both SAMCRO boys are bound up and taken back to the Wahewa bullet-making HQ. Two Wahewa women are being held hostage there. One Russian goon heads over to the hostages and shoves his pistol in the first lady's mouth as a second Russian goon tells Jax, "You tell me where the guns are, or I blow her head off." Jax pleads, "Okay, okay, okay" -- but it's only a ruse for him to headbutt a goon and attempt to fight. Notice how I said "Attempt." He and Opie are soon overpowered again, and a Russian aims at the Wahewa woman so Jax screams that he'll tell them where the guns are. All he needs to do is make a call.

Meanwhile, in Capers Ahoy! subplots, Gemma's taken Thomas on a field trip to snoop in Mommy's office. Because she is sneaky -- and it is narratively convenient to do so -- Gemma soon figures out how to unlock Tara's desk drawer and finds the accordion file Tara's been keeping on Maureen's correspondence and its aftermath. Among the items Tara's collected: a copy of John Teller's accident report (date: 11/11/93), as signed off on by one Wayne Unser. Gemma is rattled.

Speaking of Unser, he's watching Juice work on his bike. Juice is about as effective a mechanic as he is a hacker, and we quickly move over to Tig, who is making sweet love to a sandwich. (Only metaphorically, praise the lord.) Bobby comes over and asks, "That Gemma's meatloaf?" Tig comes down off his mouthgasm to exclaim, "I missed this almost as much as I missed pussy." Then he senses that Bobby Elvis didn't come by to see if Tig wanted to swap lunch items. Tig urges him, "Get behind Clay on this cartel, man. He wants you there." "No, he doesn't. He's locked me out. He's locked all of us out, except for Jax. He's the only one on the inside and that's dangerous," Bobby Elvis broods. The thought of not being Clay's right-hand man totally alarms Tig, so he's all, "Clarification, please?" Bobby Elvis explains, "He had you and me. He trusted us. We gave him balance, protected the club in the process. That's gone." Tig could not give two shits about balance. He's in a panic over Daddy Clay sending him to his room: "So you think I'm on the outside too?" Before Bobby Elvis can try again using smaller words, Filthy Phil comes running in bringing word of colliding plotlines, i.e. Jax calling in to try and reach Clay. Bobby Elvis and Tig head out to find Clay, but the man (fresh from his errand at Oswald's), blows them off all, "Not now." Bobby and Tig look at each other, and Bobby's all, "SEE?"

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We then see Roosevelt and a truck's worth of firefighters walking into the SAMCRO clubhouse. Roosevelt heads straight over to the wall of mug shots, and SAMCRO watches him. (Tig sidles up to Clay and tells him that the Grim Bastards are on a toy run, so there will be nobody acting as backup on the Wahewa rez.) Clay snaps at Roosevelt: "You made your point. Now it's time for you and your Campfire Girls to get out of here." Roosevelt calmly asks, "There's no brothers on your wall. What's up with that?" Piney rasps, "What's up with that is, we don't have any brothers on the wall." Clay follows up that tautology by claiming that really, some of the club's best friends are colored. They just happen to be on a toy run right now. Roosevelt leans over and touches the clubhouse wall and says, "This feels warm. It might be electrical." He then borrows an ax and bashes in the hall of fame. Following that act, the man of mayhem breaks down the door to the church and buries the ax in the redwood table.

Cut to him outside with SAMCRO, saying in the same impersonal tone, "The fire chief found nine code violations. You've got 30 days to fix it. Good thing this wasn't a fire." Then he turns to Clay and says quietly, "I'm willing to work with you, figure out the boundaries that keep us both happy. But you pushed me to this. And I strongly suggest you guys don't do it again." Then the law rolls out. I have to be honest: I am totally on the Roosevelt train now. He is not stupid, and he is communicating in a language they can easily understand: You violate my town? I'll violate your clubhouse. And we can keep upping the ante, but you're not going to win because eventually, the law will get you. Give me a problem and I will become your problem. That SAMCRO doesn't welcome the message is not his problem; it's theirs.

Speaking of SAMCRO problems, the club is off to the Wahewa reservation to see what they can do about making sure the generation of club leadership doesn't end up with its brains resting on the floor. (Then again, given the state of Opie's mane, it's entirely possible that bullets would enter the thicket, then disappear, never to be seen again.)

Jax and Opie are laying face-down on the floor and Jax deadpans, "Hell of a honeymoon." Opie cracks back, "I should have just stayed in bed with my wife. The porn star." They both start laughing. Then Jax says, "They're never going to make it from Dogtown in an hour." Opie's aware of that. The two men fall silent; presumably, both are thinking about their women and children. A motor thrums outside and they look up.

We see a Humvee pull up, and the Russians haul Jax to the window to see what's up. We see Parada walking out with one of his little friends, and the Russian asks, "Who is this?" "It's a Mexican guy and a Mexican guy," Jax says. Is it just me, or does he have a lively gallows humor? I mean, when things are quiet, Jax is flinging himself around all, I want ooooooooouuuuuuut and My boooooooys and We need to find our waaaaaaaaay, but present the man with imminent death and he's like the biker's George Kaufman with the one-liners. Anyway, the Russians walk the SAMCRO boys outside and ask Parada what he wants. "I hear you're looking for your guns!" he replies jovially. "Yeah. They have your guns," Jax helpfully says. The Russians decide the best way to negotiate with Parada is to shoot at him and Luis. We get a priceless shot of Luis by the trunk of the Humvee giving the shooter a look that says Really? with one elegantly-cocked eyebrow. Then the real shooting starts, courtesy of Parada's back-up crew, which had heretofore been hiding.

Once the bullets have stopped parting the Russians' hair in new ways, Parada comes in, grinning, and says, "That's what friends are for." SAMCRO arrives right about then and Clay asks Parada, "How did you know this was going down?" "We have contacts in the ROC," Luis supplies. "We have contacts everywhere," Parada says happily. That could be taken as both a business asset and a warning. Parada says that his business relationship with SAMCRO is very important to him -- cut to a shot of Bobby Elvis realizing that Clay's already committed the club and the vote is a total sham -- and says, "I'm sure this is the last we've heard of Puta-lova's crew." Anyway, one Russian is handed over to the Wahewa so they can get retribution for their murdered man, and Parada takes off. Bobby Elvis tries to call Clay out on the communications hap between the cartel and the club, but Clay stonewalls him.

Everyone rolls back to Morrow-Teller Motors, where a large crowd of hand-wringing crow eaters has assembled. Tara has taken time out of her busy doctorin' schedule to wait for Jax at the clubhouse. Clay and Gemma watch their reunion with an almost scientific curiosity: How do we classify those two? Are they the generation's version of us, or the generation's version of John and Gemma?

Then everyone decamps to the clubhouse, and wanders through the mess in a daze of sorrow and fury. Clay tries to prove how resilient they are by vowing that as of the day, a crew will begin cleaning up, but nobody rallies. Tara, who is clearly spooked by Jax's adventures, looks around and makes a decision. She calls out, "I have some good news. [jams her engagement ring on her finger] We're engaged!" Everyone looks somewhat startled by the news -- especially Jax -- but then the applause starts. Clay comes over to kiss Tara on the cheek (she practically recoils), then embraces Jax with, "My son." There are drinks all around, and Clay walks over to where Gemma's sitting and watching the whole scene unfold. He hands her a shot and says, "What'd I tell ya? She's a good girl, huh?" Gemma gives him a tight, insincere smile, but the minute he walks off, Gemma exchanges a very meaningful look with Unser. Opie and Jax exchange congrats. Piney watches and fumes: Jax and Clay can ride the momentum from this feel-good moment straight to a winning vote. When Jax catches Bobby Elvis's eye, the older man pours out a drink on the floor. It's not meant as a toast. And right now, Jax doesn't care.

By Sobell

And Clay is about to get more. Before he and the rest of the SAMCRO boys can ride to the rescue, Roosevelt and his phalanx of deputies pulls up. As they do, Clay dispatches Gemma, sotto voce, to call the Grim Bastards and send them out to the Wahewa rez as backup. Then he calls out to Roosevelt, "If you're looking fleet work, you're going to have to make an appointment." Roosevelt is imperturbable. He merely wants to ask a few questions about everyone's whereabouts from the night before. Clay smarts off, and that's when the fire engine arrives. Cut to Piney and Tig both scowling, This can't be good. Roosevelt takes off his sunglasses and asks, all seriousness, "You smell smoke?"

We then see Roosevelt and a truck's worth of firefighters walking into the SAMCRO clubhouse. Roosevelt heads straight over to the wall of mug shots, and SAMCRO watches him. (Tig sidles up to Clay and tells him that the Grim Bastards are on a toy run, so there will be nobody acting as backup on the Wahewa rez.) Clay snaps at Roosevelt: "You made your point. Now it's time for you and your Campfire Girls to get out of here." Roosevelt calmly asks, "There's no brothers on your wall. What's up with that?" Piney rasps, "What's up with that is, we don't have any brothers on the wall." Clay follows up that tautology by claiming that really, some of the club's best friends are colored. They just happen to be on a toy run right now. Roosevelt leans over and touches the clubhouse wall and says, "This feels warm. It might be electrical." He then borrows an ax and bashes in the hall of fame. Following that act, the man of mayhem breaks down the door to the church and buries the ax in the redwood table.

Cut to him outside with SAMCRO, saying in the same impersonal tone, "The fire chief found nine code violations. You've got 30 days to fix it. Good thing this wasn't a fire." Then he turns to Clay and says quietly, "I'm willing to work with you, figure out the boundaries that keep us both happy. But you pushed me to this. And I strongly suggest you guys don't do it again." Then the law rolls out. I have to be honest: I am totally on the Roosevelt train now. He is not stupid, and he is communicating in a language they can easily understand: You violate my town? I'll violate your clubhouse. And we can keep upping the ante, but you're not going to win because eventually, the law will get you. Give me a problem and I will become your problem. That SAMCRO doesn't welcome the message is not his problem; it's theirs.

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By Sobell

Speaking of SAMCRO problems, the club is off to the Wahewa reservation to see what they can do about making sure the generation of club leadership doesn't end up with its brains resting on the floor. (Then again, given the state of Opie's mane, it's entirely possible that bullets would enter the thicket, then disappear, never to be seen again.)

Jax and Opie are laying face-down on the floor and Jax deadpans, "Hell of a honeymoon." Opie cracks back, "I should have just stayed in bed with my wife. The porn star." They both start laughing. Then Jax says, "They're never going to make it from Dogtown in an hour." Opie's aware of that. The two men fall silent; presumably, both are thinking about their women and children. A motor thrums outside and they look up.

We see a Humvee pull up, and the Russians haul Jax to the window to see what's up. We see Parada walking out with one of his little friends, and the Russian asks, "Who is this?" "It's a Mexican guy and a Mexican guy," Jax says. Is it just me, or does he have a lively gallows humor? I mean, when things are quiet, Jax is flinging himself around all, I want ooooooooouuuuuuut and My boooooooys and We need to find our waaaaaaaaay, but present the man with imminent death and he's like the biker's George Kaufman with the one-liners. Anyway, the Russians walk the SAMCRO boys outside and ask Parada what he wants. "I hear you're looking for your guns!" he replies jovially. "Yeah. They have your guns," Jax helpfully says. The Russians decide the best way to negotiate with Parada is to shoot at him and Luis. We get a priceless shot of Luis by the trunk of the Humvee giving the shooter a look that says Really? with one elegantly-cocked eyebrow. Then the real shooting starts, courtesy of Parada's back-up crew, which had heretofore been hiding.

Once the bullets have stopped parting the Russians' hair in new ways, Parada comes in, grinning, and says, "That's what friends are for." SAMCRO arrives right about then and Clay asks Parada, "How did you know this was going down?" "We have contacts in the ROC," Luis supplies. "We have contacts everywhere," Parada says happily. That could be taken as both a business asset and a warning. Parada says that his business relationship with SAMCRO is very important to him -- cut to a shot of Bobby Elvis realizing that Clay's already committed the club and the vote is a total sham -- and says, "I'm sure this is the last we've heard of Puta-lova's crew." Anyway, one Russian is handed over to the Wahewa so they can get retribution for their murdered man, and Parada takes off. Bobby Elvis tries to call Clay out on the communications hap between the cartel and the club, but Clay stonewalls him.

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By Sobell

Everyone rolls back to Morrow-Teller Motors, where a large crowd of hand-wringing crow eaters has assembled. Tara has taken time out of her busy doctorin' schedule to wait for Jax at the clubhouse. Clay and Gemma watch their reunion with an almost scientific curiosity: How do we classify those two? Are they the generation's version of us, or the generation's version of John and Gemma?

Then everyone decamps to the clubhouse, and wanders through the mess in a daze of sorrow and fury. Clay tries to prove how resilient they are by vowing that as of the day, a crew will begin cleaning up, but nobody rallies. Tara, who is clearly spooked by Jax's adventures, looks around and makes a decision. She calls out, "I have some good news. [jams her engagement ring on her finger] We're engaged!" Everyone looks somewhat startled by the news -- especially Jax -- but then the applause starts. Clay comes over to kiss Tara on the cheek (she practically recoils), then embraces Jax with, "My son." There are drinks all around, and Clay walks over to where Gemma's sitting and watching the whole scene unfold. He hands her a shot and says, "What'd I tell ya? She's a good girl, huh?" Gemma gives him a tight, insincere smile, but the minute he walks off, Gemma exchanges a very meaningful look with Unser. Opie and Jax exchange congrats. Piney watches and fumes: Jax and Clay can ride the momentum from this feel-good moment straight to a winning vote. When Jax catches Bobby Elvis's eye, the older man pours out a drink on the floor. It's not meant as a toast. And right now, Jax doesn't care.

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Provenance
Original URL
http://www.brilliantbutcancelled.com:80/show/sons-of-anarchy/booster-09-13-recap/
Captured
2019-03-29
Page Type
recap (100%)
Wayback Machine
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